Re: What simple things make you happy?

I love waking up early on Saturday morning. I plan to spend the weekend with my daughter who is home from college for a few days. We are going to sew and relax. But first we are going to a farmer's market to pick up berries for breakfast.

Re: What simple things make you happy?

Another simple pleasure... unloading another huge mountain of moldy boxes at the dump. I've been at it for 4 or 5 weeks now, after thoughtlessly throwing every box for 7 years into the shed. Now to get rid of them, I have to break them down and haul them to the dump. It is stinky, yukky work, but coming home to a noticeably more open shed is my reward. I'm going to make another run now and then I think I'll only have about 2 more weeks to have it DONE! Then I'll start on the bags of fabric scraps in the attic.

Re: What simple things make you happy?

Originally Posted by canadian_angel;3174165;

I love hospital pants! They're amazing. .

CA - your pants comment made me smile when I immediately thought "hospital pants?" Somehow they never brought those out for me! I was subjected to the open air model (no back closure) smock each time I spent time in the the hospital. At any rate, I have been following your daily progress as you get your strength back. One of my new simple pleasures is now to read about your positive outlook. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Re: What simple things make you happy?

Originally Posted by Gutmutter;3174167;

Another simple pleasure... unloading another huge mountain of moldy boxes at the dump. I've been at it for 4 or 5 weeks now, after thoughtlessly throwing every box for 7 years into the shed. Now to get rid of them, I have to break them down and haul them to the dump. It is stinky, yukky work, but coming home to a noticeably more open shed is my reward. I'm going to make another run now and then I think I'll only have about 2 more weeks to have it DONE! Then I'll start on the bags of fabric scraps in the attic.

Gutmutter - there is so much pleasure in decluttering! I work at an elementary school and it does seem that all of us are in a clean out mode this year. We have a recycle shed on campus so it makes it easy. As for the fabric scraps, I started giving them to the Goodwill if they could be used for quilts or something. I just packed them in clear bags. I began to realize that there was no way I was really going to use them. Giving them away felt pretty good. Have a great weekend! I am headed out on my patio that my daughter and I cleared off and swept and washed down last night!

Re: What simple things make you happy?

Amen proshay. As a young adult I used to love going to Salvation Army and yard sales and finding cheap and unusual stuff and clothes. Then I had kids and the amount of STUFF you get with kids is overwhelming. Then I got divorced and everything ended up in my barn and attic. Now I'm one year away from an empty nest and possibly 2 years away from moving, so the process is reversing itself. I was glad to have so many people make "finds!!" at my yard sale and it really is a simple pleasure to make multiple trips to the dump every weekend. I go to a recycling center that recycles paper, glass, plastic, and metal. It also has a huge free room, so I don't feel guilty about anything I get rid of.

Actually this is just a place for my stuff, ya know? That's all, a little place for my stuff. That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there. That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time.

A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff!

Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore. Did you ever notice when you go to somebody else's house, you never quite feel a hundred percent at home? You know why? No room for your stuff. Somebody else's stuff is all over the goddamn place! And if you stay overnight, unexpectedly, they give you a little bedroom to sleep in. Bedroom they haven't used in about eleven years. Someone died in it, eleven years ago. And they haven't moved any of his stuff! Right next to the bed there's usually a dresser or a bureau of some kind, and there's NO ROOM for your stuff on it. Somebody else's s*** is on the dresser.

Have you noticed that their stuff is s*** and your s*** is stuff? God! And you say, "Get that s*** offa there and let me put my stuff down!"

Sometimes you leave your house to go on vacation. And you gotta take some of your stuff with you. Gotta take about two big suitcases full of stuff, when you go on vacation. You gotta take a smaller version of your house. It's the second version of your stuff. And you're gonna fly all the way to Honolulu. Gonna go across the continent, across half an ocean to Honolulu. You get down to the hotel room in Honolulu and you open up your suitcase and you put away all your stuff. "Here's a place here, put a little bit of stuff there, put some stuff here, put some stuff--you put your stuff there, I'll put some stuff--here's another place for stuff, look at this, I'll put some stuff here..." And even though you're far away from home, you start to get used to it, you start to feel okay, because after all, you do have some of your stuff with you. That's when your friend calls up from Maui, and says, "Hey, why don'tchya come over to Maui for the weekend and spend a couple of nights over here."

Oh, no! Now what do I pack? Right, you've gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The third version of your house. Just enough stuff to take to Maui for a coupla days. You get over to Maui--I mean you're really getting extended now, when you think about it. You got stuff ALL the way back on the mainland, you got stuff on another island, you got stuff on this island. I mean, supply lines are getting longer and harder to maintain. You get over to your friend's house on Maui and he gives you a little place to sleep, a little bed right next to his windowsill or something. You put some of your stuff up there. You put your stuff up there. You got your Visine, you got your nail clippers, and you put everything up. It takes about an hour and a half, but after a while you finally feel okay, say, "All right, I got my nail clippers, I must be okay." That's when your friend says, "Aaaaay, I think tonight we'll go over the other side of the island, visit a pal of mine and maybe stay over."

Aww, no. NOW what do you pack? Right--you gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The fourth version of your house. Only the stuff you know you're gonna need. Money, keys, comb, wallet, lighter, hanky, pen, smokes, rubber and change. Well, only the stuff you HOPE you're gonna need.

Re: What simple things make you happy?

Originally Posted by Gutmutter;3174167;

Another simple pleasure... unloading another huge mountain of moldy boxes at the dump. I've been at it for 4 or 5 weeks now, after thoughtlessly throwing every box for 7 years into the shed. Now to get rid of them, I have to break them down and haul them to the dump. It is stinky, yukky work, but coming home to a noticeably more open shed is my reward. I'm going to make another run now and then I think I'll only have about 2 more weeks to have it DONE! Then I'll start on the bags of fabric scraps in the attic.

I agree. I love unloading/decluttering. Yet, I don't know why I keep the stuff to begin with!

Originally Posted by Cootie;3174169;

CA - your pants comment made me smile when I immediately thought "hospital pants?" Somehow they never brought those out for me! I was subjected to the open air model (no back closure) smock each time I spent time in the the hospital. At any rate, I have been following your daily progress as you get your strength back. One of my new simple pleasures is now to read about your positive outlook. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Thank you. I am having a good day. It's a tad on the cool side. It feels like October! But otherwise it's been a peaceful day. The hospital pants here are like a soft pant with a drawstring opening in the front. I still use the hospital smock to sleep in at night but I always cover it with a housecoat. My problem is that right now most things are simply too heavy to wear.

Originally Posted by prhoshay;3174184;

Here is a question: Why do we keep so much crap??? And we know it's crap when we're going through it trying to get rid of it? And we fret over the junk!!!

My simple pleasure is that I am learning to throw things away before I stockpile them. Not the easiest road I've ever travelled.

I'm guilty of keeping things just in case or just because they may hold a memory. But then I usually don't remember it anyways. Or I completely forget about it and when I'm cleaning I stumble upon it and then never end up throwing it away. However, being here has really put this kind of stuff in perspective. Clutter is just a way to distract me from what's really important!